Saudi Arabia’s New Girls Council Had (You Guessed It) No Actual ‘Girls’ On It

Girls. It was missing girls! The council established for the advancement of Women was unveiled by an all male panel.

On Monday, thirteen men assembled to launched the ‘Qassim Girl’s Council’.

The BBC notes that women do, in fact, sit on the council. Due to Saudi Arabia’s strict gender segregation policies, however, they were forced to participate via a video stream from another room.

The council was spearheaded by Qassim Governor Prince Faisal bin Mishal bin Saud, who said the group represents an important step toward greater gender equity in the country.

“In the Qassim region, we look at women as sisters to men, and we feel a responsibility to open up more and more opportunities that will serve the work of women and girls,” he said in comments translated by the BBC.

Saudi Arabia has recently pledged to increase women’s rights. On Tuesday, the country’s Ministry of Labor and Social Development announced a program to boost the number of women working in Saudi Arabia, with a goal of 28 percent by 2020.